The Adjacency of Ones
by LeGrande Grover
Summary: GippalRikku are my favorite Spira pair, so here's a little story about them and their trip into the bowels of Djose Temple alone together. Gippal's not a puppy. Rikku's not a seductress. It's just GippRikk goodness! :Recently Revised:
1. The Adjacency of Ones

**The Adjacency of Ones**

Maybe it was the very namesake which defined the times now that caused her to feel so distraught. It certainly wasn't her style. Rikku certainly could have renamed the Calm with a far better adage. '_The Boring'_ came to mind. Maybe that wasn't entirely fair to Spira, however, though the only thing that existed in the moments between silence was the self, bold and proud. Not only had Sin been cast away into memory, but also Vegnagun even before the people knew of it. Once again Spira was carefree and open, save any more secrets which could be buried within the bowels of Bevelle and New Yevon. Still, there was something to be said about having a purpose in life.

Having nothing to do was torture.

"Ugh, whaddya mean they're gone? You mean to tell me that I can't even get a ride home now? Brother's priorities are a little funky, if you ask me!" Rikku bawled and stomped her fury into the dust of the Mi'hen Highroad, her face twisted in disgust for her brother's inclination to do anything Yuna asked. It was those typical Al Bhed eyes which revealed just how artificial her anger was, for she could never truly be angry with her friend.

Paine could see through it without even looking. "Yuna's been pretty excited to see all of Spira lately. I guess they didn't want to wait," she lulled in indifference. Unlike the others, she didn't know much of anything about the young man who had come out of nowhere and back into Yuna's life. It was puzzling, even after Rikku's best attempts to explain it, but there was little need to worry. Though he looked like Shuyin and even managed to impress her with his skills, Paine had a feeling that there was nothing to worry about anymore. Plus, Yuna appeared to be happier than she ever had been before.

Even through the sin of being left behind, Rikku managed to pump her legs in a frustrated dance, mimicking all the many times she had done so before though this time fueled by her annoyance with Brother. 'He' came back, just as Yuna had wanted, and they were quite the couple now. The High Summoner, or rather the former High Summoner and her mysterious companion from nothing but dreams created quite a spectacle wherever they went. That was one of the reasons Rikku was so irked. She was being left behind time after time, it seemed. "Oh, I bet they're partying even as we speak! That's so mean!" she bawled again but earned no sympathy from the other part of the infamous Gullwings. By this time, her complaining had taken on a very sincere pout.

Despite their standings on transportation, there wasn't much they could complain about. The Mi'hen Highroad was enjoying a very mild spring in the following of the continuation of the Calm, setting the precedent for which all other seasons would be judged upon. Chocobos had even returned the highroad, traveling in flock without fear of fiends and elating the hundreds of visitors which traveled from Luca to the Mushroom Rock Road. Rin was sitting at the top of the world and could not be seen without a smile on his face. However, this world was still not without danger. Fiends still roamed about, though due to the efforts of the world's most well-known figures, they were becoming less and less of a danger to everyday life.

But they left their mark on the world.

In the midst of Rikku's wailing and Paine's lack of sympathy, a single machina strode by them both in a very unusual manner. This machina was like nothing they had ever seen before and it snared both of their attentions like a mighty trap. "What is that? I've never seen anything like that before!" Rikku burst out in amazement while single-handedly following the machina like a wayward puppy. She was crawling on her hands and knees through the dirt in an effort to unlock the mysteries of the thing, drawing some strange glances from travelers passing by.

However, Paine could not hide her interest either. "It must be a new model. It has an insignia on it," Paine replied and tilted to the side to get a better look. Though Rikku was far too interested in the mechanics of the thing, Paine's reading of the insignia froze her investigation and recognized the emblem with a surprised voice, "The Machine Faction?"

The name automatically caused Rikku to straighten her back and stop in her tracks, giving herself a base to twist and turn as she tried to locate something – or someone. The small smirk which Paine reacted with was not because of her actions, but the look in Rikku's eyes as she searched the area. There was no mistaking that look. The intricate web of past and present which wove all of them together made Paine truly the only person who could have said what she said next, "I doubt Gippal would have come out here himself, Rikku. If you want to see him, we can always go to Djose temple." Not even Paine could hide a grin of satisfaction as Rikku turned to her with shades of red bronzing across her cheeks.

"What! What are you talking about!" Rikku cried as she quickly turned away and aimlessly cuffed her hands together.

"You certainly jumped into search mode when I said where it was from. You hardly hide it whenever he's around either," Paine replied.

"H-h-hide what? I don't know what you mean!" said the greatly embarrassed Al Bhed.

Rikku's quick escape by turning her back on Paine was all the more proof of her guilt and they both knew it. Yuna was the one who usually chided Rikku about her flirtatious behavior around the leader of the Machine Faction, but this time Paine had to go about it in her own way. Her way wasn't nearly as subtle as Yuna's but it did seem to generate the same effect. "Whatever. I want to know what these machina are so I'm going to go talk to Gippal. Stay here if you want," Paine said flatly. There was no room for debate as she turned and started towards the nearest hover, leaving a flustered Rikku standing on her knees in the highroad, her face still trying to iron out the wrinkles of embarrassment laden on it. Paine was heartless when it came to Rikku's plight.

Gippal.

What was it about him that stirred her up? Was it his voice? Maybe it was the way he went about every thing; so cocky and cool. He ran the entire Machine Faction and even helped defeat Vegnagun. He was smart and a born leader. It was no wonder he had the respect of the Al Bhed and even evaded bad tidings from Rikku's father. But the efficiency at which he could embarrass or enrage Rikku put him in a class all his own. With a single gesture, he could make her burn red in the cheeks or go white in the knuckles.

She hated that about him. She also loved it.

* * *

By the time Djose temple was in sight, Rikku was taking two steps forward and one step back. The swirling of stone on arc was something that left a certain awe with people, but Rikku's nervous wringing of her hands was more in fear of the beast inside rather than the crackling fury of the rocks. It was still nothing compared to how her stomach was twisting inside of her. Saving the world was an easy excuse not to think about him.

Maybe there was a downside to defeating Vegnagun.

The usual foray of guards and mechanics dotted the clearing outside of the temple but none of them were the dreaded Gippal. Rikku felt relieved and crouched into a ball, hugging her knees while she inspected yet another example of the Machine Faction's new machina. Anything was better than giving in to her desires to watch Paine find Gippal. Maybe she was being a little childish about this all but everything was beginning to change for Rikku. Yuna was euphoric in her love with Tidus. New Yevon and the Youth League were now working together to find the sparse fragments of Spira's past. Even Leblanc was a totally different person as she stuck to Nooj's side.

While everything changed, Rikku managed to stay the same. The world was stagnant for her. Still, she was getting older now and there were not many fiends to fight; even less pockets to pick! She actually had to behave now and that made her sigh while she ran a finger over the shivering machina, mindlessly imagining it was something else. The vibration numbed her finger slightly and caused a quiver to run through her, making her eyes dull and her mouth hang slightly open. Even her vast experience eluded her as her guard dropped to her emotional menace.

"You wanna take it back to your place? I didn't design it for that, but the great thing about machina is you can change them to do anything," said a voice suddenly.

With her heart seizing in her throat, Rikku toppled over on her side with a shrill yelp, putting herself in a quite undignified position to the smirking Gippal. That only made him laugh heartily and stand straight, putting his hands behind his head and making no effort to hide the grin on his face. As he had noted time and time again, Rikku was always good for a laugh.

Rikku was beside herself in embarrassment and threw a fit on the ground, burning in embarrassment and also anger at being teased by him incessantly. It was only after the initial shock did she focus enough to glare her assailant with eyes both guilty and mad. "Gippal! Don't sneak up on me like that! And whaddya mean do I want to take it back to my place?" she roared. Her fury was a mask upon her blush, both for the disgusting remark and her own knowledge of what she had been daydreaming about.

Gippal set his hands on his hips and roared in laughter as he looked down upon the young girl, very pleased with himself and his task of making Rikku flail about. He was still chuckling as Paine strode onto the scene and could only guess how this had come around. Even though she was tempted to interrogate Rikku about it, she instead looked to Gippal and hugged herself casually, ignoring the flustered Al Bhed girl. "Hey, I see you've been busy," she said, ignoring Rikku's tantrum.

"Well, well, if it isn't Doctor P and her partner in crime. What brings you to my little corner of Spira?" he replied and shifted his attention from Rikku as well, which of course didn't go over with since her whole tantrum was for his benefit. Her pout muffled her ranting about his perverted sense of humor. Paine was too busy wondering about the machina.

"We saw a machina like this on Mi'hen. It's a little stupid to ask if they're yours," she said.

Gippal gleamed brilliance and threw a thumb across his nose, smiling proudly as he marveled in the accomplishments of his faction. There was great pride when he replied to her, "The first of our new models after digging in Bikanel. Thanks to your help with our Experiment, we were able to make a revised, more versatile version to patrol Mi'hen and Djose. Whaddya think? Aren't they impressive?"

Paine took a moment to look around at all of the new models around them, each a smaller version of the Experiment the Machine Faction had built and slightly differing from one another in form and function. She was impressed, though one could never tell by her expression. She had always admired Gippal's ability to build and repair, but now she had to admire his ability to design as well. "You always were one to show off when you did something," she said.

Her traumatic experience had seemingly been forgotten and Rikku was sitting on the ground at their feet, leaning back on her hands and looking out over the variety of machina. '_Gippal did all of this?' _she thought as the peered about. It was amazing, but she felt a bit indignant as well. That's all she needed – another reason to admire him.

Just as their reunion was veering from formality, one of the technicians can running to Gippal and began talking excitedly to him. It was obvious by his quivering hands and sweating brow that his emergency was not positive. Though Gippal was getting the general idea of what was going on, the tumbling Al Bhed which he was hearing was starting to get on his nerve. With a single hand, he cut the technician off with a silencing order. "Cmuf tufh ymnayto!" he snorted and the technician did exactly that, slowing down and taking a breath for a moment. Though Paine and Rikku both understood Al Bhed perfectly, Gippal wanted the older man to think before speaking so he set the precedent for his report. "Now tell me what's going on and don't mumble," he ordered sharply.

"We were able to open the secret door in the 'I' section of the temple but there was a fiend there! As soon as the door was open, it grabbed one of my men and sealed itself back into the room! What am I going to do?" the technician howled.

It was quite the tale, but Gippal listened to it with his thumb cradling his chin. A fiend? They were still finding a few since the aeon had reappeared, but nothing that could frighten one of his workers this bad. It was annoying, but a smile suddenly tweak his features; a smile that mad Paine scowl due to its obvious intent. "How convenient it is to have the Gullwings here," Gippal commented and turned his eye to Paine, noticing the look of anger flash over her face. Paine was easy to get to, just like Rikku was, though it took a distinctly different approach and a great deal of personal danger. He was lost a moment in his ability to get her like that, but something had to be done about the matter. Sincerity had been masked by smiles. "How about it, Doctor P? It's not exactly digging, but you're still on the payroll, right?" he asked.

The further scowl across her face made him laugh even more and shrugged, hiding what expectations he had with his artificial sigh. "I know a certain someone who isn't going to get a raise. All right, it's my problem anyway," he quipped and nodded the technician to lead the way. It was well-known that Gippal could take care of himself and that getting the Gullwings to do the work was just a product of his laziness. He had just wanted to see Paine glare at him. But he would handle it without their help just as easily, for even when he was alone, Gippal had the spirits of Paine, Nooj and Baralai with him.

In that sense, he was never truly alone.

"E fyhd du ku," said an unexpected voice.

His heroic odyssey into the jaws of danger was halted by the timid Al Bhed which caught all of their ears. Being even more than Paine, Gippal turned to Rikku and was actually speechless, looking at the almost serious look on her face. She had clamored to her feet and stood with her chest heaved up, trying to put on her most serious face to him. It was something that actually got his attention. She reveled in that for a moment.

"You want to go?" he echoed.

"That's what I said," she said smugly, "Got a problem with that, oh mighty leader of the Machine Faction? You don't even know what's down there!"

Taking a moment to stand in front of her and settle a hand on his hip, Gippal managed to get Rikku to lose her stone jaw a moment, but her eyes told him of her determination. He knew Rikku better than most anyone else, but she did have the ability to surprise him every once and awhile.

Still, despite her surprising him like that, he still laughed softly and strutted back to her, pushing her headband down over her eyes like a teasing older brother would despite her squirming and objections. "Huh, I guess Cid's little girl is growing up after all. I can't argue with your talent, though. Follow me," he said and turned back to the temple.

Gippal was unique in the sense that he rarely let anything stand in the way of truth – not pride or fear. When he thought something, he said it. When he knew it to be true, he accepted it. Whether or not getting help from Cid's quirky daughter was commercially cool, he knew that she was adept, being one of the few people that actually helped defeat Sin and Vegnagun. Those kind of credentials went far with him.

Although his voice sounded different in Rikku's ears, she still heard the same thing. Even as he walked towards the temple, she threw her arms down and shouted out after him, if only to grab his attention one last time. "I have a name!" she cried. He never seemed to change. His tormenting of her had stretched back into the very depths of her memories and she remembered hardly anything else about him from their childhood. There were other things, dark and scary things that she would rather forget, but the teasing was always foremost in her mind. It was his banner, but also the one thing that allowed her to be close to him.

Pulling the band from her eyes, she was instantly drawn to look at Paine, smiling a bit sheepishly at the expression on her face. The dark sword-bearer was smirking at her choice and even had a rare and devious smile to show, revealing that she knew more about the decision than Rikku cared for. But the Al Bhed was justly sheepish and chuckled lightly, rubbed her neck to try and brush away the embarrassment. "Eh heh, it's just that it could be a really nasty fiend or two fiends and maybe it could be guarding a sphere or some other kind of treasure!" she said, trying to justify her actions by the creed of the Gullwings.

Paine was not convinced.

To that, Rikku suddenly changed gears and snorted, looking away indignantly and kicking her feet through the dirt. "Ugh, what's wrong with wanting to help Gippal stop a fiend anyway? It's not like it could be anything worse than Vegnagun," she said while she tucked her hands back behind her head and marched after Gippal. Even if Paine was right, that didn't mean Rikku would acknowledge anything in sight or sound. But it was as if she wasn't just trying to convince Paine of the innocence of her actions, but rather someone much more personal.

Paine watched a moment, then gave her last bit of advice through a half smile, "I don't think it's the fiend you have to worry about, Rikku."

Though Rikku didn't stop to dignify the remark, her steps slowed and her mind began to work against the tickling feeling she felt on top of her stomach. Paine had already turned to leave Djose, truly leaving Rikku alone with one of the most chaotic parts of her life and heart.

Alone.

Alone with Gippal.

Alone with Gippal where no one would be able to find them for awhile.

Alone with Gippal where no one would be able to find them awhile and the thrill of a fiend lurking over their every moves like a shadow, making blood pump hard and skin grow cold at the mere changing of the air.

Alone with Gippal.

What was this feeling which prickled her skin and thrilled her? Why did it slow her steps and make her far more weary of the friend than the fiend? What would happen once she was alone with him?

It was embers in her mind. She would have to face them alone and truly test her merit when it came to this powerful influence in her life. Whatever was to happen, she felt deep inside that this would change something between her and Gippal, for better or for worse. She didn't know which it would be, but she knew that she would move to find out. Silently, she disappeared into the temple.


	2. Inside Djose

**The Adjacency of Ones**  
**Inside Djose**

Rikku had never felt such apprehension walking into Djose temple before. The statues, the workers and even the machina seemed to be eyeing her as she followed behind Gippal, though at quite a distance back to hide her fresh embarrassment Paine had laid on her. Did everyone know about this thing she had for him? She had essentially told Yuna and Paine of her desires just by her body language, actions and even tiptoed around the subject on more than one occasion, almost as a boast. Still, her big secret did manage to be lost on the object of its existence.

It was quite the spectacle for them to enter into the temple together. The leader of the Machine Faction with Cid's daughter close in tow snared the attention of everyone in the main foyer of Djose, causing an uneasy calm to fall over the place and breeding a silence only spiced by the rattles and whirls of the few machina in for repair or redesign. Whereas Gippal walked straight to the small group of men at the base of the single column of stairs and began to speak to them in casual Al Bhed, Rikku gleaned straight-legged around them while, at once trying not to hear what he was saying.

Her attention was divided a bit by the unusual glances she was receiving from some of the technicians - the female technicians. The look was slightly stupefying at first, mostly because Rikku was oblivious to the fact that she probably wasn't the only one who had a discreet eye on Gippal, but soon enough she recognized the look in their faces. Before she had a chance to react, the raised Al Bhed voices turned her attention to the men standing in front of Gippal.

"You're going in alone! That's insane! Our leader can't disappear again! It was bad enough when you did it the last time but you can't..." the man was yelling in rushed Al Bhed until Gippal broke him with a composed snort.

"Chill out, gramps. It's not like you fall apart whenever I leave. I'm sure I can handle whatever fiend is down there and I can't risk anymore workers that should be distributing the new machina," he said in a tone that visibly made the men before him beam with pride and also understand their own tasks. With a perfectly sincere smirk, he jerked his thumb towards Rikku and gave her a glance. "Besides, I've got one of the Gullwings with me. If there's something down there that can beat Cid's girl, then there's more in trouble than just the Machine Faction," he said, almost with his tongue in cheek.

It was a compliment. It was really an honest compliment. Rikku looked at Gippal for a moment, fully letting his nickname for her slide, and felt a bit of pride come over her face. Of course, no blush could overwhelm the sudden smile which flooded her face as she posed for them all. With a shrilly tone of Al Bhed, she set about setting everyone at ease. "Hah, that's right! We'll kick some tail and take some names before you even know we're gone! There's no need to worry with Rikku on the job!" she cheered.

"See? What did I tell you?" Gippal said with a grin and crossed his arms, looking at all of the disbelief in his men's eyes. A few of them somewhat grasped what Rikku had done, but they also knew her as the loud little girl of the gruff leader of all Al Bhed. Still, Gippal had enough confidence in her and that was all Rikku needed to beam.

With a shrug, Gippal pushed through the line of workers and waved a hand over his shoulder, giving his last orders to the wind, "Just keep doing what you're supposed to and we'll be back before you know it. Oh yeah, close the caverns after we're in. I wouldn't want our fiend to get out." At the foot of the stairs, a technician was waiting with Gippal's Mortar, which did give the workers a bit more confidence in their success.

"I'll keep Gippal safe. You just go about your business and let me take care of that fiend!" Rikku continued, drumming her fists through the air as she bobbed around the old men, despite their dry glances and disbelief.

Rikku's assurances didn't go very far to the ignorant masses, but she did simply glow as she then strode by them all, her shoulders locked back and her head held high. As she stepped up in front of Gippal, she couldn't help but rock up and down on the balls of her feet in an anxious little dance, giving Gippal a little smile. "It'll be just like at Home again, huh? Maybe we'll have another big adventure!" she said excitedly.

"Huh, still the explorer. Some things never change," Gippal replied and slung the Mortar onto his shoulder, taking a moment to look down at the young girl.

In actuality, things had changed quite a bit since they were younger. Within the sand of Bikanel, life had seemed far simpler than it did now. At 9, Rikku had looked up to the young Gippal as they played and enjoyed the Al Bhed life. Mostly, it was Gippal's ability to get the best of Brother which always sent Rikku into giggles and she followed him around wherever he went. Although Gippal usually tolerated her being around, he did little else to encourage her. He did, even then, call her 'Cid's girl.' It was meant more as a taunt, but even when Gippal made Rikku cry, she was always over it within the hour and trying to follow him and the older children out.

In fact, it was because she following him that one day that his entire world changed before his eyes.

Memories were like a river current - unseen and fast until they pulled one under. They came fast and hard when wading and relentlessly drown anyone that couldn't swim. Gippal snapped out of his daze with the strange look on Rikku's face to anchor him back to reality. Though it hardly seemed like she was that same little girl, Gippal knew that the past was just that - past. Quick to get back to the task at hand, he turned and started to ascend the stairs with a sure step and a sandstorm of a pace.

Rikku was a bit perplexed at the pause in Gippal's face, but she didn't think much of it as she followed him, skipping every other step in an effort to keep pace with him. A surprise to her, he didn't say much else as they walked into the bowels of the temple, past the elevator and towards the back room where a sea of electricity usually covered the floor.

As she walked in, her eyes immediately locked onto a large set of supports and cables that was built over a hole in the floor. Set over this hole was a temporary elevator, obviously to give access into the pit. It was in this room that Gippal finally broke the silence between them. "We started excavating about six months ago when some of the workers detected a large set of caverns below. We don't think they're part of the temple itself, but they are large enough to look into. There's also what looked like a door. We never got it opened until today," he explained as he looked over the equipment to make sure it was safe to go down.

Although Rikku was staring at the hole, her mind was in a black pit of fear. She wasn't too fond of this idea now. The slight bend in her knees gave an outward appearance of her mindset, but she didn't want to say anything in front of Gippal. She wanted to go with him and help him. She wanted to make up for had happened so long ago. But this was a very deep and dark hole, reminding her of the ones that had led to the Farplane where they had faced Vegnagun and Shuyin. She didn't exactly want another experience like that and her mouth hung open, like a minute reflection of the gaping hole. Her heart was beating faster and her hands gripped tightly to her own body, as if something would reach out and grab her. It was the seriousness mixed with her fear which set her on the edge.

It was the object which suddenly clung to her leg which sent her over it. "Kyaaaa! The fiend has me! Get it off! Get it off! Heeeeeeeeeeeeelp, Gippal!" she screamed as the thing clawed at her legs, making her kick and flail as her shrilly voice boomed off the walls and fell helplessly down into the pit.

The fit filled the room with the shrieking and screaming and Rikku put on a production that could have made Tobli cry. Even when she fell on her rump and flailed about to get the beast off of her, Gippal merely leaned heavily onto his Mortar, cheek resting heavily into his open palm, and he yawned, watching with a very bemused smile.

After an acceptable amount of drama, Rikku's chest stopped throbbing long enough to let her open her eyes to what was holding her leg. She expected some terrible and horrendous fiend, something that was just waiting for the right moment to eat her or thrash her body to bits. What looked back was nothing more than a small, yellow machina. With four versatile legs and a spherical body, there wasn't much to it. Only a single, green light illuminated from the center of the face closest to her and seemed to follow her movements. And it was…looking at her.

"All that fuss over my little tinker-toy. It's not gonna hurt you, ya know," Gippal said dryly and turned to fiddle with the elevator controls, leaving Rikku to sit up straight and look at the small machina with eyes clear of fear.

It was true that the machina wasn't hurting her and was merely clutched to her leg and looking. Though it startled her, she found that the machina was actually a bit cute and a breath of relief slipped from her lips, dropping her chest and letting a sigh of relief shiver through her. "You gave me a scare, little guy. I thought you were a fiend!" she said with a slight laugh and reached out to touch the machina. Following her hand with the single green light, a mechanical whirl emanated from its insides in whatever the machina did. Even as the legs loosened around her, the machina made a foray of sounds. It made it even cuter to Rikku and she squealed at its mannerisms, "Awww, you're just a sweet little machina, aren't you? Do you have a name? Huh?" As it submitted to her handling it, she giggled a bit more and started to look at it more closely, hopefully finding a model name or number. What she found on its underside caused a breath to catch in her throat.

"Rikku Tau?" she whispered.

It had her name on it? Did Gippal just say that it was his tinker toy? Why was it named it after her? There was a small flutter in her chest that made breathing harder to ignore as she slid her legs under a bit, casting a gaze up to Gippal. He was casually watching her with a smile.

"And I thought you'd be more excited to have a machina named after you. You don't like it?" he remarked over his shoulder.

With a small burning on her face, she dug her chin into her chest a bit and wrapped her arms around the machina, hugging it as deeply as she wanted to hug him right then. "It's adorable. But...why name it after me?" she asked breathlessly.

Gippal grinned. "Mostly because it doesn't do much beside fall down a lot and make a lot of noise," he replied.

Enter Gippal's unholy ability to make even the most meaningful thing into a tease at her expense. Rikku's warm feelings for Gippal suddenly turned into a heavy pout and her eyes drained from the warm gooey feeling she had been cradling due to his unusually tender act. Again, he managed to hollow her with his teasing. Still hugging the machina to her, she twisted side to side and wailed into the air, "That's sooooo meeeeeaaaan!"

Gippal then burst into laughter at her reaction and stepped onto the elevator platform, setting his Mortar down beside him and leaning on the railing to give her a good pose. "I've been calling it Tau for short. Actually, I haven't exactly finished it yet, but I don't think there's much else I can do to make it better. Why don't you keep it?" said he.

Through her sniffles, Rikku managed to give Gippal a soft pout, though she was hard pressed to hide her joy at the gift. Again, he showed a terrible talent for instantly shifting from one side of the spectrum to the other, tearing her along for the ride. "You mean it?" she asked. After receiving a nod, she smiled and looked down at Tau, surprised how warm it was pressed up against her body. It was really cute and it even had an awesome name. Even when Gippal was teasing her, he could make her happy. "Waaaai, you're a cute little machina, Tau." Clamoring to her feet, her giggles echoed in the hole below Gippal as Tau crawled around her a moment before settling across her back and casting its green eye forward. It would make a very interesting companion for their adventure.

"Well, you coming or what?" Gippal said with a smirk..

With a skip, she jumped onto the platform and settled in across from him, the fear she had for the depths of the hole dissolving against the sweet gift she had received. "Thanks for the present. I guess you can be okay sometimes, Gippal," she said with an equal smirk, punching him playfully in the shoulder.

"Huh, don't mention it," he replied and pushed a button.

With a jerk, the platform lowered them both down into the caverns below the temple where their story would truly begin. In those depths, where no one and nothing could come to their aid, the would both be dependant on one another, something that festered in Rikku's heart as being exactly what she needed to fill the emptiness that she had been feeling since discovering the world revolved in the Universe without her.


	3. Inside the Hole

**The Adjacency of Ones**  
**Inside the Hole**

Leave it to Rikku to be completely enthralled by a small machina in her arms in the wake of the great hollow that was consuming the platform around her. The sides of the hole slipped by as the hanging light cast shadows and monsters all over, but Rikku's eyes were locked on Tau as she looked the machina over, trying to see how it was put together. Jagged spires and fangs of rock were beginning to show all around, truly giving the cave a beastly appearance, yet she ignored it all. She was laughing the whole time.

Gippal was perfectly quiet where he stood, his eye being taunted by the swinging light attached to the elevator but a satisfied smile on his face as he watched Rikku marvel in his little toy. He figured she would have liked it, so to say he wasn't thinking of her as he was putting Tau together would have been a lie. Still, there was a feeling of satisfaction to see his work appreciated. Unfortunately, the platform soon cleared the throat of the hole and set down a bit roughly into the belly of the cave.

"All ashore. Time to get to work," Gippal said as he stepped off the platform. The familiar smell of oil and dust fouled the air around them and caused Rikku to cough lightly upon her abandonment of the lift. She had spent so much time lately out in green meadows or red rock cliffs that being in a work zone was almost alien to her now. Gippal chuckled a bit as he flipped on a string of dim lights leading down a semi-artificial corridor. "Any time you want a breather, don't hesitate to ask," he said dryly. The heavy Mortar was slung over his shoulder and he started down the obtuse hallway, leaving Rikku to stick her tongue out at him.

"Don't treat me like some little kid," she taunted, "I can outlast you. Remember Vegnagun?" The only response was the falling of his shadow as he passed on through the lights. Huffing slightly and making sure Tau was still clinging to her back, she followed.

The cavern opened up after the long corridor and made Rikku slow and look around with wide eyes, awe lodged in her throat at the spectacle before her. Spires of stalagmites rose regally from the floor and reached towards the roof, almost mimicking the suspended stalactites which molded to damp stone. This cathedral of stone and water seemed to tell a story of use, but was just natural enough to make one wonder. A cool wind coursed through the place and over Rikku's bare skin, but the relevance of it didn't occur to her. She was too entranced by the cavernous place and just hugged Tau tightly against her chest.

"We've been through about seventy percent of the caves and found a small entrance to Mushroom Rock," Gippal began, looking about as he walked for some sign of the fiend, "Still, it's too small to let fiends in here so our friend must have gotten in another way. There may be another way into the temple or onto the highroad we don't know about yet. If so, this place could have some history to it."

Rikku really hadn't been paying much attention to him. Wherever they were, it made a very awesome place to explore. With a chuckle, Gippal looked from her and began to cross the cavern, his mind becoming bare and focused. Rikku, however, was letting her mind wander.

"It was a cave just like this…" she thought, yet her memory was blurry and seemed faded as she tried to bring it up.

* * *

Although she had been told not to follow the boys into the desert, Rikku always did it anyway. She always told her father it was because Brother was going, but the real reason was because she wanted to be around Gippal. It had to be the beginning of her crush because from the moment she started following them out, she had always wanted to be where Gippal was. Even when he had left to become a member of the Crimson Squad, she had wanted to go with him. But that was a different time.

"Waaaaaaait for me! Hey! Slow down!" a young Rikku called out loudly, trailing behind a larger group of children. She imagined it would be much easier to catch people when she was older. Somehow, older people could run faster. Still, she had to catch up. The group of four boys and two girls was already a few dozen meters ahead, but Rikku wasn't going to let them go without her. Trying to make her little legs run faster, she lowered her head and ran, trying to control how hard she was breathing already. Then she ran right into someone and fell back onto her backside.

"Whoa, slow down! What are you doing here? Cid's little girl shouldn't be going out into the desert," said a familiar voice.

She instantly knew who it was and looked up to him from the ground, her eyes filled with fear that she would be left out and forced to go back. "But Brother is going! I'm not a baby! I can take care of myself, Gippal!" she cried out in Al Bhed with a pout.

Even at nine, she felt like she could defeat Sin even! Well, maybe a small Sinspawn. Okay, maybe a smaller fiend, but she wasn't helpless! With slightly teary eyes, she looked up to Gippal in hopes that he would smile at her, help her up and then let her come with him. Her hopes did not come true.

"You never think before you act. You could get hurt out here and then I'd get in trouble. You're too little. Go home, Rikku," he said. Gippal did none of things she wanted him to, but she couldn't find the breath to plead with him anymore. Instead, she lowered her chin and sniffled a bit, wanting nothing more than his nod. Instead, he shrugged and turned, heading back to the others. Taking a second to look back, Gippal rubbed his head while looking at the sulking Rikku, afterward giving Brother a glance. "You should take her back to camp. You're her brother, after all" he said in quiet Al Bhed.

Brother wasn't keen on the idea and stomped in the sand, throwing a tantrum at being annoyed by her presence. "It's her fault she followed! Let her walk back herself! I want to see the cave!" he shot back, not even glancing at the sniffling little girl.

That was the allure for the morning. Gippal and another Al Bhed had found a cave the day before, a dark hole in the earth that was like a drug for any young kid with an eye for adventure. Curiosity had been gleaming in Gippal's eyes, though he had to wait until the next day when he had some lights to look inside. Of course, the other Al Bhed had blabbed around camp and now they had an exploration team assembled. Naturally, Gippal was leading the pack with his two eyes full of adventure.

With one last look back to Rikku, he shrugged and started to walk again. "Whatever. She's your sister," he said, shrugging off the girl in hopes she would just go back. Soon enough, the group had disappeared in the winding canyons and left Rikku alone to cry in the sand.

She was sniffling and trying to rub the tears off her cheeks, though the sand was making it abrasive and just made it worse. All in all, she didn't know who she hated worse, Brother for being so cruel or Gippal for being so disinterested. "I'm not too little. I can do anything the others can! I'll show him!" she said as she rose to her feet, looking up in defiance of Gippal's words. Although a part of her was telling her that what he was saying was right and she feared many of the fiends that tromped around the desert, she couldn't let Gippal know she was just another crying girl. She had to get his attention! With that single thought going through her mind, she started after them again.

* * *

"Wait. I think there's something ahead," said Gippal.

Had she not been immersed in a memory, Rikku would have stopped to let Gippal look around. As he stood, he was leaned back against a wall of the cave and leaning his head towards the corner, hoping not to give away their presence just yet. However, as she had been spacing off, she found it rather surprising when Gippal's hand fanned across her stomach and pushed her back against the wall, making her wince and then get flustered at the touch. Before she could yell at him for groping, she saw how serious his face was. It cut her anger short. However, it did give her a chance to realize that his hand was still lying across her bare stomach, holding back against the wall so she wouldn't move. It may have not been the most appropriate place for her desires for him to flower, but his touch had that affect on her. The warmth of his fingers in contrast to the cold wall made her bite her lower lip, noting just where a couple of his fingers had settled in relation to the lip of her shorts. Between the excitement of the fiend being nearby, the temperature contrast felt on her body and the force of his hand on her, her eyes began to dull a bit and she tried to control her breathing.

She always had to catch her breath when Gippal was around.

Although oblivious to her state of being, Gippal could feel Rikku's stomach cave in a bit under his hand and her skin felt hot. She began to fidget and make heavier breathing, making him think she was a little scared. Turning his head a bit, he lookedback at her with a smirk, talking with a voice that showed he took her reaction as a sign of fear, "What's with you? I didn't think fiends scared you anymore."

'It's not the fiends that are making my heart race like this,' she thought as her eyes fawned over him in silence. As desperately as she wanted him to take his hand off of her, she equally wanted it to remain. Even if he was oblivious, she knew exactly why she was breathing so hard and why her body was suddenly feeling strange. She even shifted her legs together slightly to try and stem the prickling sensations but the excitement was too much for the control. Looking up at him, she took notice of the eye patch which now covered part of his face. As she did, the memory of how he obtained it came rushing to her.

* * *

Seeing the large cave made Rikku stop in her tracks. It was a great fiend that was in the ground, opening its jaws to any poor Al Bhed who happened to be foolish enough to stray into it. At least, that was how Rikku saw it. Doubt and second thoughts began to race through her until she heard voices from inside and the sporadic flash of light inside, proving that they had indeed gone inside. Fear of the beast and the desire to be part of the group battled in her mind, though she was too stubborn to turn back now.

Taking a deep breath and sticking her chest out, she pushed forward and went shivering into the cave after them. This would prove to Gippal that she wasn't a little girl anymore.

The other Al Bhed were awed by the cave. "Wow! Look at this! Have you ever seen anything like this before?" one of them called out as she looked over a stalagmite on the ground. The others were also looking at everything that could be seen in the cave, except Gippal, who was sitting on a rock formation coolly and watching everyone. It hadn't turned out to be as exciting as he thought it was going to be, so really he was just humoring the others. Gippal got bored easily.

It was then the sounds began to growl out of the cave, making each of the Al Bhed look up from what they were doing and then to each other for confirmation that everyone had heard it. Gippal blinked, averting his eyes to the darker parts of the cavern and a small knife was slipped up from his boot. Of course, he hadn't known any fiend in Bikanel to be small enough for him to be able to do any real damage with such a small knife, but it was just to make him feel better and to pump some blood through his veins.

"Gippal?" one of the Al Bhed girls asked and looked to him, moving with the rest of the group towards him.

Gippal snorted, and then slid down from his perch on the rocks. Although he wasn't afraid of whatever was waiting for him, he didn't want anyone else to get hurt and figured the cave's wonder was wearing off quickly. He did the only thing he could think of. "I think we need to go now," he said and jerked his head towards the entrance.

None of the others were going to argue and Brother was the first to go running towards the light, with the rest of them stumbling over one another to do the same. Gippal was backing his way out, keeping the others safe from anything which could come and attack from behind and searching every ounce of darkness for whatever it was that had made such ghastly noises. Everything seemed to be resolved when the last of the Al Bhed left the cave unharmed. Gippal was the last one and he let out a sigh of relief, relieved that no one had been hurt.

At least, that's what he thought.

Suddenly, a scream echoed through the cave and caught Gippal just as he was about to leave, making him freeze in his tracks and glare back into the darkness. He knew that scream. He had been the source of it a few times and he suddenly realized someone was still left in the cave. He also knew exactly who it was.

In near darkness, Rikku had run into a very fearsome fiend. A Marlboro was viciously sprawled out before her, writhing its tentacles around and biting fearsome jaws in anticipation of a quick meal. Rikku was on her rump, backed against a stalagmite and stared with wide eyes at the beast. She had never seen one so close before but she had heard many stories about them. Not even her father cared to tangle with one. Now she sat, staring right at one that was simply drooling in lust for her. There was a foul smell that emanated from it and it burned the inside of her nose, though she knew that a sore nose would be the least of her problems if she stayed.

It seemed Gippal had been right the entire time. She hated him for that. All she could do was cover her head and wait for it to attack, tears streaming down her cheeks and cries seeping from her lips. It seemed Rikku's story would end here – eaten by a random fiend in a dark, dank cave..

"Rikku!" yelled a voice.

She couldn't hear it, but it was one of the sounds she had truly come to long for in her life and it was coming to make sure she would be safe. Just as the Marlboro began to spit a bullet of liquid at her, Gippal dove in from the side and grabbed her, pulling her out of the way. They both escaped some horrible fate of the liquid, but Rikku heard Gippal scream out in their escape. Rolling together a way of the fiend, the pair of children appeared to have only delayed their fate, yet suddenly two others came from the darkness.

Lying on the ground with a writhing Gippal in her lap, Rikku watched the unthinkable with wide eyes and clenched fists, her heart beating ferociously as the two shadows rushed at the Marlboro without fear, hesitation or respect for the severe damage that such a beast could do. They just went.


	4. Inside the Memory

The Adjacency of Ones  
  
Inside the Memory

> _The cries of pain lasted throughout the night. Dimly buzzing lights fought with the echoes of a voice calling out to fill the Al Bhed's camp and everyone who passed the tent would slow to peer in hopes of seeing if Gippal would be okay. All they would see was Rikku sitting in to the side of the door, hugging her knees and staring into the sand with no sense of location or purpose.  
  
Since they had brought Gippal here, writhing and screaming in pain, she had remained outside, waiting diligently for one of the doctors to come out and tell her that Gippal would be all right. However, she knew that couldn't happen. His screaming and holding to his eye would haunt her to this day. These days were a little easier. Still, there was a slight wince whenever she looked at Gippal adjusting the patch over his eye.  
  
"Well," a gruff voice broke the night air as her secluded worrying was invaded, "mind telling me what happened?"  
  
She knew instantly the sound of her father's voice. Cid had just come from the tent; came from watching the doctors trying to calm the young boy down and understand the things he said. His face was as stern as ever, but the relief of knowing his daughter was safe couldn't hide from a viewer's glance. Rikku looked up to him, her eyes reddened and her cheeks tearstained. "Gippal?"  
  
Cid crossed his arms heavily over his chest, his face offering no level of solace to her fears. "The boy will live, but he's going to lose that eye. Them Marlboro have a few kinds of acid in them, and the doctors think this was a pretty weak kind. Considering, he's pretty lucky."  
  
The news fell on Rikku like a cold rain, making her tears start running hot down her cheeks again. Gippal would lose his eye because of her. Truths of mistake were always the most potent when hearing the cries of the victim. Burying her face back into her knees, Rikku began to sob loudly. The boy she admired and tried to impress would now hate her for causing such a trauma to him. She would forever be known as the girl who injured one of the brightest young Al Bhed at Home. This proposition made tears wash the sand from her legs even more.  
  
Cid sighed lightly. To him, disaster had been prevented all because one young boy had the courage to put his life into danger for another. It was a moment to be proud and a moment to be thankful. Unfortunately, the boy had paid a price for his valor. How he would deal with this loss would ultimately outline his character more vividly than any interview. "Now don't get into such a fuss. The boy will be fine and no one else was hurt. Rikku," he said and crouched down next to her. "Tell me about the ones who chased the monster away."  
  
Rikku had almost forgotten about them. Three soldiers wearing uniforms she had never seen before had come onto the scene just after Gippal had been injured, taking the Marlboro's attention away and saving the two children. There, holding Gippal as he shook lightly in her arms, Rikku watched the three soldiers use magic and weapons she could only dream of, effectively defeating the monster and sending it back into the caves. Their heroics were only slightly tainted by their reactions to the children.  
  
"Are they all right? Wait a minute...aren't they..." one began as she looked over Rikku and Gippal.  
  
"Al Bhed children," another finished.  
  
"Tch, what a waste of time. Stupid heretics. We should have let it eat them," the last snorted and began to head back the way they had come. The remaining two only eyed the children a moment before leaving. It was Rikku's first time seeing anyone from Bevelle. Their words fell on her ears deafly, for their actions had saved Gippal. All she could was hug his head lightly as he moaned into her leg, her skin picking up the tears he cried. It was there that the Al Bhed search party had found them, quickly taking Gippal to the medical tent and leaving Rikku there so they could inform Cid.  
  
Rikku could still feel tears on her legs; could still see the diluted red reflecting the light on her skin. She could still feel Gippal's fingers digging into her flesh as he writhed in agony over the acid in his eye and it caused her to wail out, clutch Cid's leg and begin to cry out the entire story as best she could remember it. As Gippal cried out in agony, Rikku cried out in torment._

"Hey, are you okay?"  
  
Gippal pulling on her arm caused Rikku to snap out of her daze, her memories of the past being shaken out of her by Gippal's soft tug. His hand had moved from the sensitive area it had rested and Gippal had now turned to her fully, rather curious as to why she had owned such a glazed expression and a shallow breath. Now sensations were rushing back to her just as quickly as the present was. Tau moved across her back slightly to peek over her shoulder more with its glowing eye, forcing the cold metal to sweep across her bare skin. It was more than enough to cause Rikku to find herself again.  
  
"Duh, of course I am! I was just letting you be all courageous is all," she replied with a little flash of her tongue, a gesture which convinced Gippal of her well-being.  
  
"Ah huh. Well it seems out friend has moved out of the cavern it was in before."  
  
"Oh yah? How do you know, mister detective?"  
  
Gippal flashed her a very wry smile and tossed his thumb over his shoulder. "Cause it's right there."  
  
The sound of heavy breathing and the shifting of heavy feet caused Rikku to pale a bit, for what lingered over his left shoulder was an Adamantortoise, the heavily armored fiend which had given even the Gullwings a rough time on their way to the Farplane.  
  
Admittedly, Gippal wasn't too fond of it either. 

> _"You can come in now. He can have visitors," a doctor said as Rikku lingered in the doorway of the tent.  
  
The night preceding the day had been one where Rikku had exhausted herself from crying to the point she simply fell asleep. Her dreams had been no relief as she lived the incident over a thousand times, each one causing her to awaken at the sound of Gippal's scream.  
  
In reality, Gippal had been silent for most of the night, his head bandaged and his eye rinsed and covered. The acid had been mild, but there was no hope for the eyesight coming back to his right eye. It would be something he had to live with the rest of his life.  
  
Rikku was scared to come in. The harsh words and blame of someone she admired so deeply lived in this tent, despite the fact that she wanted to see him desperately. Hugging the door, she tried to peek around the room to find some bearing, but saw nothing but curtains and beds. Something was forcing her to stay out, but an equally forcible urge was pushing into her back. A voice would break the balance.  
  
"There aren't any fiends in here. I promise."  
  
The voice was unmistakable, but she had to fight the chill running down her back to make sure she wasn't dreaming. Stepping into the tent, she could now see the only occupied bed and the patron which rested on it. Gippal was upright, his hands resting in his lap and his lips turned into that ever-present smirk. The only thing which differed about him was the bandages. Rikku felt a little anxious about that, but none of the words he had spoken were sharp or hurtful. In fact, he sounded friendlier towards her than he ever had before. That also worried her. "Are you okay, Gippal?"  
  
He watched her timidly step further into his room and laughed, pushing the bandages on his head up a bit to ease the awkward feeling they presented. "My goggles don't fit anymore," he replied. That made Rikku feel ten times lighter and a smile once more worked its way across her face. Even at her age, she marveled at how easy Gippal took such a dire thing. Nothing could ever break the aura which circulated around him and that was easily one of the strongest things that drew her to him.  
  
After dragging her feet a bit, she finally came to the side of his bed and stared uncontrollably at the bandages, her smile fading. Nothing he could have said would erase how bad she felt about her part in his injury, but she was also overwhelmingly thankful he had been there. "Thank you for helping me, Gippal. I was so scared when that fiend came at me..." The depths of her memories caused her hands to grip the sheets on which he lay, though his attention was strict upon her.  
  
"It's no big deal. You're Cid's little girl! I couldn't have come back to camp if you were made into some fiend's lunch, right?" The look on Gippal's face was priceless as he took a brisk look around before leaning closer to her. "Your dad would have killed me!" His expressions and tones brought out a bursting giggle from Rikku, who looked down into the bed to hide how easily he made her laugh. She hated it when he manipulated her like that.  
  
"Besides, now I know what I'm going to do when I get older."  
  
It was something she hadn't expected him to say and Rikku glanced up at him, confused far beyond her sorrow. "Huh?"  
  
Gippal stared at the wall but his expression proved that he was no longer sitting in the hospital. He was back in the cavern, fighting a thousand Marlboros and beating each one. An insignia crested his shoulder and he was part of a greater creature. In his mind, he couldn't fail. "I'm going to go to Bevelle. I'll make it so even a Marlboro runs away from me in a fight. I may even beat Sin."  
  
Now Rikku truly paled. Not only did Bevelle not entirely like the Al Bhed, but Sin? No one could defeat Sin! Well, only summoners had a chance but only if they gave their life! Nothing but death and suffering surrounded Sin so her reaction was naturally berserk. "You can't! Sin's too strong and you'll die if you fight it!"  
  
But Gippal was already gone. He smiled and stared as if nothing in the world would convince him otherwise. Even as Rikku clutched his sheets and stared at him furiously, she knew that one day, in the not-so-distant future, she would watch Gippal leave Home.  
  
And one day, she did._

Rikku felt a little nervous as she stared around Gippal at the seething fiend. No matter how valiantly she called out at the start of battle, she always felt a little nervous. She was confident in herself and in Gippal, but it didn't keep her from worrying just a bit. "You'd better go hide, Tau. I wouldn't want you to get hurt," Rikku cooed to the small machina, who quickly crawled down her back and legs until it was scurrying across the ground to hide behind a small rock, peeking out only a glowing eye to watch the battle. The Adamantortoise wasn't quite sure what to make of the two, but it was pawing the ground as it guarded a huddled figure in a corner. Gippal had been looking at the figure intently and called out a few directions in Al Bhed. The figure, petrified with fear, only nodded and stayed huddled in the corner.  
  
"Well, all right. Ready to do some heroic stuff?" Gippal quipped as he tossed his Mortar on his shoulder.  
  
Rikku hopped up next to him with her daggers bared, her form hunched down and her lips twisted in a grin. "Huh, betcha I can take it down before you." Gippal smiled at her challenge and straightened a bit, raising the barrels of his Mortar into the air and firing a volley onto the fiend. It cried out, but wasn't affected much. At least now it knew these two creatures were serious.  
  
Rikku shot a glance at Gippal. "Hey, no fair! I didn't say go yet!"  
  
The battle seemed to lumber on for a short while, both Rikku and Gippal both scraping away at the Adamantortoise with a variety of attacks. The fiend had given just as little damage to them, its physical attacks too slow to actually hit either of them. For the most part, it had been a race to see actually which one of them would finish it off first.  
  
Gippal nimbly landed after cutting into the fiend with the saw at the other end of his Mortar and idly glanced to Rikku, finding a rather interesting detail about her spherechanges. It brought a smile to his face, though he wouldn't say anything about it quite yet.  
  
"Gippal!"  
  
However, his lapse in mental focus led to a disastrous consequence for him. Just as he looked back to the Adamantortoise, it was reared up on its hind legs and throwing its head forward, using a deadly attack called Adamant Breath on him. The attack ripped into him and sent him sprawling back into the wall of the cave, motionless and cold in the wake of the last resort of the fiend.  
  
Rikku was beside herself as she watched him lay like a doll against the stone wall, a summary of all of her fears concerning caves and fiends. The sight of Gippal lying there tightened her fist, which was now covered in a heavy armor. Although she didn't quite have the same prowess in the Dark Knight form as Paine did, she was significantly pissed off to truly feel the suit. A surge of energy coursed through her as she wielded the sword with all of the grace and power she could afford, making her seem much darker than usual. The Darkness attack seemed to drain much more out of her than it ever had before, but the ensuing wave rippled through the Adamantortoise and crush what life it had left in it. As the great beast howled and fell to the ground with a mighty quake, its formidable armor now disintegrated into pyreflies and soon, into nothing.  
  
Rikku was already running to Gippal.  
  
By the time she arrived to him, her clothes had returned to the normal Thief appearance and she resumed her role as Rikku once more. The worker had fled out of opportunity and they were alone again, safe and secluded. Rikku was wild with worry at just what injuries Gippal could have from the attack, but her heart was given to a speed bump as she fell to her knees before him. Gippal was sitting back against the wall now, his Mortar standing next to him and his arms slung casually over his knees. He was completely entertained by her.  
  
"Well, I guess you win."  
  
"Gi...you weren't even hurt?!" she howled out at him, feeling a bit embarrassed that she had made such a fuss over him. Once again he showed his talent in getting a reaction out of her and chuckled, though a bit strained as he stretched his torso a bit.  
  
"I wouldn't go that far. A little bruised, but nothing a good nap won't fix."  
  
Breath still came hard to Rikku, her heart finding time to slow down and understand what her eyes were telling it. Gippal was fine, the worker was safe and the fiend was gone. Job done. Still, she couldn't hide what seeing him hurt like that did to her. She sat back on her knees and sighed, trying not to compare this with the last time they were in a cave like this. An almost alien feeling came about her as she felt something crawling on her, only to find that it was Tau. A smile came back to her as she hugged the small machina.  
  
"What's this?" Gippal asked as he saw something glimmer a few feet away. Just as he reached for it, a shooting pain shot through his side, though he managed to ignore it with just a wince. Grabbing the small sphere, he leaned back with a small grunt, focusing his eye on it in hopes Rikku would as well. No sense making her worry.  
  
"A sphere?"  
  
"Looks like it. The fiend must have had it."  
  
"I wonder what's on it."  
  
Gippal closed his fingers around the sphere and looked to Rikku, grinning at the opportunity to show off his mechanical prowess once more. "Let's find out. Here, Tau."  
  
The small machina twirled its eye to Gippal, extended two of its arms out to grasp the sphere and take it from his hand. Rikku blinked wildly and loosened her arms as Tau rested in her lap, split along its middle and devoured the sphere like it was a sweet snack. To her infinite slavery to Gippal's abilities, she watched as Tau turned its eye upward and projected the contents of the sphere. 


	5. Inside Outside Upside Down

The Adjacency of Ones  
  
Inside, Outside, Upside-Down  
  
_The colossus Vegnagun held a presence untouched by any other thing in Bevelle. Though no one was aware of it, the enormous machina commanded a devout following of scientists and officials who marveled over the creation they had brought. With the power to destroy even the vilest of enemies, Vegnagun would be the tool to bring Zanarkand to its knees.  
  
At least, that was what Dr. Tunel felt whenever he stared up into the demonic visage of his greatest creation. Standing with the rest of his team in the midst of their secret facility just adjacent the holy temple at Djose, they all took great pleasure in presenting the weapon to the war council. Applause rang through the caverns and a thousand workers celebrated the achievement of their name. Dr. Tunel stood before them all and raised his hands, hoping to get another moment to gloat.  
  
"You have all participated in the greatest work ever done in the name of Bevelle. Our creation will prove that no other people are as strong as we and that not even Zanarkand can stand against us. Let them send their summoners and warriors against us! We will crush them and Bevelle shall rule all lands!"  
  
The applause nearly overwhelmed the caves, filling each passageway with echoes and shadows. Equipment was being stored, workers being moved and, slowly but surely, the massive cave began to appear more and more like a cave and less like a laboratory. Dr. Tunel's work would never be forgotten, for his name would now live on in history as Bevelle's greatest mind. For this, he could not begin to douse his smile.  
  
Stepping down and coming back to the council, he tucked his hands behind his back and simply beamed within his own name. "As promised, we have delivered the most powerful weapon ever built. From the construction of the infrastructure to the infusion of a thousand of the most powerful fiends, this has been my dream and my nightmare. However, I now stand here...a completed man." The aggressive speech was met with a few soft chuckles, a few off-handed remarks about lost lives and lost wives but then with the stern face of business.  
  
A warrior monk stepped forward and fell undaunted by the splendor of the moment. Dr. Tunel addressed him with his eyes, then sighed and turned to him fully. The monk was very stiff about that. "Your accomplishment is noted, doctor, but now we must set into motion the wheels of Zanarkand's destruction."  
  
With a snap of his finger, recoils ripped through the caves as soldiers in uniforms mimicking the monk's fell into the cave and began to massacre the workers. Cries of agony and horror fell as nothingness across the stoic face of Vegnagun and blood soaked into the ground. When the last recoil fell silent, Dr. Tunel gasped across the floor of the cave, lost upon the sea of dead bodies. Only one shadow slipped away into the caves and set in motion the foundation of a fore-sought story.  
  
The future had not happened yet and it seemed Dr. Tunel's future was bleak at best. In a fit of rage, he turned to the monk, his fists clenched in fury. "You bastard! This is an outrage!"  
  
What he was met with was the barrel of a gun being lifted to his face, its black eye staring down at him with the utmost indifference. "Bevelle thanks you for your work, doctor, but no one must learn of this colossus. Sleep well knowing that your creation will do exactly what it was designed to," the monk said quietly and pulled the trigger. The single pop which followed sealed the name of Tunel away forever, but something that would not settle was released. A howl of wind and a burst of cold would not settle over the bodies of the dead and the war council felt ill in the sound they heard next.  
  
The shifting of metal and stone signaled the life infused into Vegnagun, reacting to the death of its creator, and tentacles of metal began to move. Pyreflies began to lift from the dozens of dead bodies and circle, as if dancing to the tune of carnage that had marked the last moment of their lives. The members of the council lingered only a moment as the machina shifted more, making a run towards the exit of the caves. Leaving a writhing, mourning beast in its den, the warrior monk stopped at the ingress of the cavern, looking back inside at it.  
  
An aide lingered a moment as well, horrified at the sight. "What do we do, sir?"  
  
The monk snorted, showing no deterrent in his eyes and no reluctance in his voice. "If it takes me a thousand men and a thousand men more, I will get that weapon to Bevelle. I will return for you," he lulled with a final casting of eyes on Vegnagun, and then disappeared into the light, leaving the screams of a hundred souls to pad the walls in which a solitary machina lived.  
_  
Rikku fell back onto her backside and stared almost aimlessly into the projection. The last image she saw was a wild Vegnagun inside the caverns and the bodies lying around it. Afterwards, the person recording the sphere fled along with the council, ending the history set in the red sphere. Even after the images stopped, she still stared at the space like it was showing over and over in her mind. Never had she guessed that the creation of Vegnagun, who now lived on only as a memory itself, would have been immersed in such hues of red and black. Though she had felt nothing when she had helped to destroy the beast, she suddenly felt a seeded remorse at the gray figures that had created such a horrible creation.  
  
"Huh, didn't expect to find anything like that down here," Gippal said as he leaned his head back against the stone, taking a bit of pressure off of his torso. He had suspected the Vegnagun had been created under some jaded circumstances, but seeing the death of entire workforce all in the name of Bevelle was more than even he had wanted to see. "I guess that either Nooj," he began again as Tau ejected the sphere into his hand, "or Baralai will want this."  
  
Rikku, who slowly drew Tau into her arms and hugged the cool machina into her chest, stared quietly at the stone floor of the cavern, almost envisioning the red blood flowing as it did over a thousand years ago. Her understanding of people who created such horrible weapons was threadbare, to say the least. Her heart had always told her that machina helped people, not killed them. Instinctually, she hugged Tau a bit tighter and spoke to Gippal without raising her eyes. "Can we just forget that we found it, Gippal?" With shock brimming on his face, he looked to her past the red sphere, not quite expecting to hear such a thing from a sphere hunter. However, he found such a look on her face, one stewing in her swirled green eyes and causing a frown to betray her good nature, and let out a belated sigh.  
  
Without any question, Gippal let the sphere slip from his hand and to the stone floor, the red orb rolling between baby stalagmites and cracks in the rock until it slipped into shadows once more and faded from existence once more. The sounds of chiming impacts marked its further descent into an unknown portion of the cave.  
  
"Come on, Rikku. Let's go back."  
  
The entire way back, Rikku had been preoccupied with what she had seen on the sphere; so much, in fact, that she had failed to see Gippal dragging his Mortar along instead of lugging it on his shoulder as he always did. Gippal was quiet as well, but only because he didn't really have much to offer Rikku about the past of Spira. People died everywhere in the wake of hatred lying stagnant in the hearts of all. Wars were fought and cities were demolished all while babies cried and lovers wept. That was nothing new.  
  
However, upon reaching the lift, Gippal caught her arm and pulled her to a stop, breaking whatever trance she had been in. "Listen, what happened in there was a thousand years ago. We all know that Bevelle has never played nice and that bad people exist everywhere. But," he cooed at her and smiled as straightforward as he could, "I also know that there are some pretty great people in the world too. There will always be a Yuna or a Nooj to make sure the world doesn't totally suck, right? Hey, there may even be a few Rikkus to keep everyone smiling. What we saw on that sphere won't go any further than us, okay?"  
  
There was nothing more comforting than the warm, consoling words of someone held close to the heart and Rikku felt the heavy burden by the memories in her head lifting away like a fog. It was another thing which made Rikku uncontrollably drawn to Gippal – his ability to make the world seem just a little bit better than it already was.  
  
"Thanks, Gippal."  
  
The ride up was entirely a different mood than the ride down. Rikku bobbed back and forth on her feet, still picking over Tau as if she could unlock the magic locked within. However, this time there was something lighter about her; something unburdened by worry. She had emerged from caves with no new horror stories about Gippal and all workers accounted for. Gippal seemed pleased at their accomplishment and new light began to shower across her shoulders and head as they neared the top of the lift. She had never been so happy to see the inside of a temple again.  
  
Gippal only took a moment at the top of the lift to calm down the workers, one of which who was being treated for injuries caused by the fiend. Gippal did cause a stir among the workers as he officially designated the caverns off limits. Though he didn't offer any explanation, the lift was powered down at the entrance to the caverns was to be sealed.  
  
Rikku smiled at the swift action which was brought by the orders of her senior Al Bhed. Sometimes she forgot that the cool, carefree boy that she had grown up with was now the leader of one of the largest groups of Al Bhed in Spira. That kind of authority could cause a girl to get giddy.  
  
"Come on. You can clean up in my pad," Gippal quipped as he headed through the temple. Rikku followed, though she still was busying herself with her new toy. Before she could let her attention wander from Tau, she found herself in a single room in the upper levels of the temple. By the messy state and the random machina parts everywhere, she assumed it was Gippal's personal room. It caused her to smirk.  
  
"You always had a messy room. I would think being the big, bad leader of the Machine Faction, you could at least afford a maid."  
  
"Huh, and I was hoping you'd take the job," he replied and walked over to a solitary stand near his surprisingly simple bed. Laying the Mortar against it and locking it in place, he let out a deep sigh of relief and ran a hand across his ribs. It was the first time Rikku noticed that their fight with the Adamantortoise took a bit more out of him than she thought. "There's a shower in the next room. No one will bother you up here," he said, interrupting her blatant stare. Without saying much else, he turned as if to head out the door and back down to work.  
  
However, Rikku stood in his way with a defiant hand to his chest. "Hold it right there. Are you okay, Gippal?" she demanded and poked her finger into his chest.  
  
"Worried about me?"  
  
"Well, duh! Of course I'm worried about you, you dope. Let me see what's wrong."  
  
Gippal smirked and chuckled through a false smile, not moving at all to leave or to show her his injuries. "I'll be fine. Besides, you'd have to take my shirt off to see it." Now his smile became very real; a taunting, devious smile as he watched her eyes bulge a bit. Knowing just far Rikku would go in this little game, he stood there, letting her have full access to him. This was him daring her.  
  
Rikku now felt a new kind of fear in her chest; a fear which she hadn't felt for a while in Gippal's presence. She knew that he knew just how flustered he made her, so this little dare he was putting before her really ticked her off. He didn't think she would do it! Deep down, she didn't think she would either. However, with her heart racing in her ears and her fingers shaking, she reached up and began unfastening the garments which covered Gippal's shoulders. Though his smile never broke, she knew that he was sure of where she would stop this. Even as a red blush was burning across her cheeks, she continued to work on the garments until they fell the floor behind him. By this time, sweat was glistening on her skin and her hands felt as if they were going to fail her at anytime. Still, he smiled at her. Damn his smile.  
  
"Well, you're almost there," he lulled and tilted his head a bit. In his mind, she would never go any further because she was still just a little girl who blushed every time he winked in her direction. He still had her where he wanted her.  
  
The remark caused her eyes to narrow and a sour expression to come to her. Rikku snorted lightly at him ruining what atmosphere had begun to form, but she also knew that he was just playing some stupid game with her. Well, she wouldd show him just how much she had grown up. With a bit more confidence, she twisted a bit and took the glove off his left hand, leaving it bare and revealing the sleeve that was tucked into it. She had almost forgotten how soothing his hands were, though she didn't allow herself to linger on it too long. Without breaking stride, she twisted back and pulled at the other, biting at her lower lip as her fingers ran across his. With a simple tug, she pulled the glove off and dropped it to the ground. Now came the hard part. Still trying to live with the unruly pace her heart was beating at and the sweat she could feel cooling her skin, she faced him straight on and lifted her hands to his midsection. At first, she awkwardly tugged at the shirt, trying to get it untucked. It even caused him to snicker a bit, but an annoyed look up from her ceased any more laughter. Finally, the lip of his shirt broke from his pants and she hesitantly slipped her fingers up under his shirt.  
  
The feel of his stomach under her fingers only furthered just how fast her heart was beating and how visibly her abdomen was breaking and swelling under her breath. His stomach too caved a bit at the feel of her hands, but she could no longer force herself to look up at him. Her face was beet red. Yet, she continued on and slid her hands apart under his shirt, pulling the bottom lip up completely from his pants. By now she could feel the warmth churning in her body and she could no longer control the shifting of her legs. Just doing this was driving her crazy! She hadn't even gotten his shirt off and she was already burning inside.  
  
Finally, she began to lift his shirt up, much to the surprise of Gippal. His smile had faded as he watched her, felt her fingers across his skin and listened to her breathing. Already she had gone further than he thought she would and now he was actually convinced she may actually take his shirt off. Maybe she wasn't as little as he thought she was.  
  
Pulling the shirt up over his head too all of her reach and grace, pulling his hands free of the sleeves until the shirt was nothing but a mess on the floor. She now had Gippal standing shirtless in front of her, his sides bruised and slightly cut. However, her entire reasoning for taking his shirt off was lost to her. Her eyes fell across his torso and dulled while though line became shadow, no detail about him was lost on her. By now she was on fire inside and could barely stand still in front of him, feeling more vulnerable now than she ever had with him. That was the part she didn't like and her senses surfaced enough to attempt a rescue. "You...you should have someone look at that," she said, barely aware of her own voice.  
  
Just as she attempted to step away and hurry out of his sight, his arm came across her and his hand gripped the wall behind her, providing a dire obstacle to her escape. With his arm blocking her exit, she swallowed a bit and looked back at him, mentally hating him for not letting her go.  
  
"You surprised me, Rikku. I didn't think you would ever be this bold, but here we are. Maybe you're not Cid's little girl anymore." Gippal's voice was only furthering the despair in her eyes. She hated him for stopping her and loved him for keeping her there. She was surprised also. Never in a million years had she seen herself undressing Gippal, but she had just done it. Now she had no idea what to do next.  
  
Gippal apparently knew exactly what needed to happen next. The arm blocking her escape buckled at the elbow and he began to lean in to her, placing his other hand against the wall at her other side so she could go nowhere. This forced Rikku to press her back into the wall and face him, her eyes wide and her chest rising and falling quicker than ever. As she was frozen between his arms, he leaned down and kissed her on the lips. Resting on his elbows against the wall, he let the kiss linger until he finally leaned up to look at her.  
  
Her eyes were still closed, though not pressed shut as they were before. Her fists hand pressed into the wall, her knees were locked and her lips were still slightly puckered. She looked rather silly! However, she felt superb. She had really just kissed Gippal; or rather, Gippal had just kissed her. A clarity settled over her that she had never felt before and her eyes opened to his face – his beautiful face. Why did he have to look at her like that? Didn't she know what it did to her? Didn't he know how his kiss made her feel? Couldn't he see it in her eyes?  
  
The next thing she knew, Rikku was nearly tackling Gippal, sending him tripping backwards over random machina parts until he came to rest pretty hard on his bed and Rikku right along with him. There was no control as she began to kiss him, letting loose all of the pent up desires she had fostered for him over the years. Nothing could measure the pleasure she was feeling as his hands began to wander over her body, feeling how hot her skin was. How he managed to remove her scarf without her help was a marvel even to her. Damn, he was good. Straddled across him, her legs holding barely any of her weight off of him and feeling his body between them, she had never felt such desire for anything in her life. Even when she felt the release of her top, it was almost instinct to slip her arms from the straps and toss it aside. New levels of pleasure assaulted her as she felt her bare chest pressed against him, the sensations of her most sensual areas being stimulated. It was only after this burst of ferocity that she slowed down a moment and just kissed him, tasting the lips which had mocked, teased and taunted her for as long as she could remember. Although she could barely contain herself, she pulled her head up from him and attempted to catch the breath which had eluded her since coming into his room.  
  
Apparently, Gippal was as pleased as she was, for he rested his head back on the bed and looked up at her, his arms wrapped around her body to keep her close. Yet, in all of the fondness she had and the uproar he had caused in her body, she still stared at the one thing which marred his gorgeous face. The eye patch was mussed to the side, but still covered a face that she wanted to stare at uncovered. To that effect, she reached her left hand up and tried to grab the strap, of which Gippal reacted by pulling his head away in the slightest. However, she wouldn't give up and, after a timid look from her, Gippal moved his head no more. Pulling the strap from his head, she let the eye patch fall to the floor among the parts and pieces of the machina. Then, she looked back to him for the first look at his eye since he gave it up to save her.  
  
Gippal's right eye remained closed with the left, until a light sigh escaped his lips and both were opened to her. Although no vision came to the eye, it still instinctually moved along with the left as he looked her over, revealing just what the acid had done so many years ago. As much as Rikku had been dreading it, she was shocked at just how benign it seemed. His right pupil, though once the same beautiful green color as his left, was now a dulled gray color. Though it had never been a sour point for him, he still looked up at her with a lame expression.  
  
"Gippal...I'm..." she started but couldn't say anything after it. It had been so long ago but she still felt so awful about it.  
  
"Things that happen in the past don't define us. As long as I'm who I am now, it doesn't matter. I never once blamed you, Rikku."  
  
Rikku smiled softly and let out a deep, welling breath. It was something she wanted to know for a long time and hearing it from his lips, within this moment, made her feel instantly happier than she ever had before. "Thanks, Gippal." With that said, she leaned down and kissed him once again. 


	6. Inside the Room

**The Adjacency of Ones  
**  
Inside the Room  
  
After what seemed like the progression of several nights and days, Rikku finally bothered to acknowledge her surroundings long enough to yawn. The hot, humid air of Gippal's room hit her like a wave, but she was more taken with the sudden rush over her body to pay too much attention to it.  
  
She was sore.  
  
Very sore.  
  
The movements of her body strained and pulled and she felt like she had just gone ten rounds with Sin. Whatever ambient light lingered in his room was an invader to her eyes, for she shielded them lazily and moaned ever so slightly. The cold sheets did refresh her skin, but something made her squirm over so lightly under the careless jumble of sheets over her. Kicking them off, she soon found that she was quite naked.  
  
It was a shock at first, but her memory was quick to come back in prudent time to make her eyes reflect the realization as quickly as her sheepish grin. That would explain why I'm so sore, she thought to herself. With little need for embarrassment, she sat up in the bed and stretched her arms far above her head, letting out a squeaky yawn to accompany her reach. What she bothered to see first only made her grin spread. Tousled bedding was basically everywhere in the room. Several machina parts were covered in it and the bed itself had seemingly shifted on the floor during the events of the particular memory vivid in her mind. It caused her to snigger rather deviously.  
  
"Thought you were gonna sleep all day," a voice said, quickly bringing her reality back to her.  
  
Looking quickly to the figure sitting at the foot of the bed, her eyes came alive as she worshipped Gippal. Casually sitting away from her, he hadn't really spoke to her, but rather at her. He was hunched over slightly and obviously looking at something, but she little cared. After what they had shared, she felt so exonerated that she could have sealed them away in that room and never left.  
  
Bouncing across his bed, she quickly wrapped her arms around him, giggling as he squirmed slightly from her fingers over his sides, and then promptly wrapped her legs around him as well, hugging him tightly from behind. She wouldn't let him get away. He was hers.  
  
"Morning...or is it night?" she asked, sighing happily as she laid her cheek against his back. Even now, the feeling of him against her was intoxicating enough to almost force her into squeezing him until he popped. Of course, she refrained from this for obvious reasons. A functional Gippal was far more functional than a popped one.  
  
"One of 'em, I'm sure," he responded, not moving much under her embrace.  
  
Moving around that much reminded Rikku how aching she was, but she let nothing show. He was the source of all her pain, but the pleasure she had experienced was like nothing she had ever imagined. Painful at first, she soon was swept away by the rapture of it all. Thralls of perpetual pleasure had drown her in the sheets while the world simply melted away around them.  
  
Her fingers hurt from holding the sheets so tight.  
  
"What're you doing, Gippal?"  
  
Gippal didn't answer right away, but remained still. This brought a small fear into her heart; that he was now thinking back upon their choice with tones of regret. She could barely believe it either, but Gippal was something of a prayer when it came to emotions and choices. However, her chest fell away when he spoke in the same tones as he had just moments before their little encounter. "Thinkin' about when we were younger. Those were sure different times."  
  
Rikku was curious as to why he would be thinking about that, but a casual glance over his shoulder found a photograph in his hands. In it were seven young Al Bhed, each grinning or laughing for the camera. Brother was hard to miss, but neither was a young Gippal leaning on the head of a young Rikku. Always teasing her. It made her laugh and hug him again.  
  
"Hey, where'd you get that? That was such a long time ago!"  
  
"Yeah," he replied, smiling sort of lopsided. Soon he began flipping the picture between his fingers and tilted his head a bit, looking at her over his eye patch. "Who'd have thought, huh? Bet your pops isn't gonna be too happy about this."  
  
Rikku, by natural default of mention of her father, stuck her tongue out at him. She was a big girl now and able to choose for herself who she wanted to be with. Ever since she could remember, that was Gippal. "Who cares what he thinks? Besides, I think out of anyone, Pops likes you the best, Gippal. And so do I," she quickly added and nuzzled him lightly.  
  
Gippal merely laughed and hung his head again.  
  
Although she didn't know for sure, she got the feeling that deep down, her father respected Gippal for the things he had accomplished and, especially, for showing what kind of person he was when he helped her and gave up his eye. There was no one better for her to love than Gippal. There was no one she loved more than Gippal. That feeling couldn't escape her, even when she lost everything else within the bounds of the passion they shared. If every night was as spectacular as their first time, she wouldn't want to leave Djose for years!  
  
Sadly, this seeded thought came exactly as Gippal asked her a question which she didn't want to think about. "What now? You're not exactly the sit- still type, Rikku. Yuna is going to come back and expect you to go with her. And you'll go with her, right?" Rikku buried her face into a bit but stared out at the wall, hoping she wouldn't have to think about that. Yuna and Paine would come back and both of them would be expecting her to go with them. It was what she wanted to do, wasn't it? Currently, she couldn't humor the idea of leaving Gippal, but that was only because she had exhausted her so. Maybe she would want to stay with him?  
  
Even deep in her own heart, she knew that was a lie.  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Ah huh."  
  
That was that. It was the divide in their lives and she knew there was no getting over it. Even before she asked, she knew the answer. She had to ask anyway. "You could always come with us and stay on the Celsuis. Lots of stuff to tinker with, you know."  
  
Gippal had also expected it, but there was no reluctance in his reply. "Can't. I'm the leader of the Machine Faction and I owe them to stay. Cruising around on that ship would be a blast, but it looks like we won't be seeing each other that much."  
  
He said it with such finality that she sighed, loosening her grip on him. It was depressing to have reality come crashing down on a very good waking, but there was no getting around it. However, Rikku wasn't going to easily give up and she pinched him to the point of his objection. To this, she grinned. "Cheer up, purple pants! I have an airship! I can come here and see you anytime I want! Besides, being around you all the time would get on my nerves," she teased, leaning up and nibbling on his ear playfully.  
  
He objected again and spun, facing her once more and pushing her back onto the bed just as playfully. Their positions were reversed now and he held her down, pinning her wrists and smirking down at her. She didn't mind, however, as she merely laughed and struggled lightly, if only to play to his dominant side. "No fair! You cheater!" she called out, though lacking any real contempt. Really, she was mesmerized by his smile and once again feeling at the mercy of him. Without thinking her legs were already held up against him and trying to hold him near. Soreness was no match for desire.  
  
"Until they come and get you, you're mine then."  
  
As he leaned down and kissed her neck, her smile instantly faded into a quivering whimper. He had started it again! She knew where the biggest machina in the room was now.  
  
As she dung her fingers into his back slightly and pulled herself against him passionately, her moans were marred by a simple, breathless sentence which came more as a gasp of air than a rational thought. "I'll be yours without end..." 


	7. Inside the Ring

The Adjacency of Ones

Inside the Ring

Years pass away like leaves from a tree; each one blooming from a bud into full spread and then to die and fall away, if only to give room for the next. They all seemed to unfurl when the new wind was blowing light over serene meadows and even the most brazen of men took the time to run his fingers over the tall grass. In the waning days of a year, the wind began to bite at the skin, forcing all to seal away for the death and rebirth or to embrace a lonely lover for the long lapse of sleep. It was so easy for people to sit back and write poetry of days long past and journeys not yet taken.

"Watch what you're doing! If you scuff that machina I'm going to feed you to it!"

Gippal was never much on poetry. The days never went by like a dream teetering on a memory wishing on a star. The last time he caught one of his workers writing poetry when she was supposed to be working, Gippal assigned the woman the task of cleaning all of the joints and gears on every machina at Djose temple and the Highroad. It took her three weeks.

It hardly seemed like more than a year had passed since his little excursion into the bowels of the temple with Rikku. Then again, he rarely had enough time to think about anything aside from all of the machina now moving through Djose. Bikanel was almost excavated and most of his work force was now finishing reproduction of machina and maintenance to all units rebuilt and sold. Rin alone used a quarter of his faction for all of the machina and related equipment he purchased from Gippal. Every road in Spira was now as safe as Bevelle. Even Baralai had a few machina here and there. Djose was becoming more and more empty, a sanctuary now to young Al Bhed who wanted to learn how to modify and even create machina.

Gippal was now looked upon as one of the great teachers of the Al Bhed.

Arduously, he avoided anyone who thought of him that way. His dream of restoring the Al Bhed's prestige by proving once again that machina could serve all of Spira was at hand. With the last of the machina being finished, polished or shipped, he felt a big step was finally over. With a heaving sigh, he wiped his brow with the back of his glove.

"Tired already? When I was your age, I only slept two hours each night so I could get all of my work done!" said a very gruff voice from behind him.

Gippal's back automatically straightened as he turned, setting his hands on his hips in his usual cocky demeanor. "I do only sleep two hours a night, old man. Most of the time I'm working in my dreams too," he replied, watching Cid stroll up to him with that great grin of his. Cid had arrived to watch Gippal's mighty Machine Faction finish the task Cid had once spurned as a waste of time. He always believed that when the Al Bhed had gathered in enough force, they would reclaim Home and rebuild. His outlook had changed within the past few years.

Cid laughed a few deep chuckles and clapped Gippal on the shoulder. "Then, my boy, you're on your way to becoming a decent mechanic."

Gippal smirked, but was actually a bit surprised that Cid was being this civil. He could remember the

day when Cid had come to Djose after learning Rikku was in love with him. The old man was fuming and cursing and Gippal nearly had to employ some of his own machina to calm the geezer down. Cid was a bit imposing when he was in a tirade. However, things now were nearly cordial between the two. In fact, the reason Cid had become docile about the idea soon came running past the two of them, chasing a small machina as it crawled along the ground.

"Tau! Come back here! I'm not going to use you for spare parts! It was a joke!" Rikku hollered as she tried once more to grab the little machina. Tau, however, was faster than Rikku. The chase proceeded all around the entrance area of Djose temple and under the watch of Cid and Gippal.

Cid's face lost that prevalent scowl as he watched her and soon shifted his eyes to Gippal. It was easy to see on his face that he cared about her just as much as he did and Cid let out another round of chuckles at the scene. "Does she know yet?"

"I haven't the chance to tell her. I'm hoping once Nhadala comes from Bikanel, I'll have a chance."

"Nhadala is a good choice, my boy. I still can't see why you're going to hand over the reins when you've just gotten to the easy part but it's your faction. What are you going to do with all the free time?"

Gippal watched Rikku a while longer, his face not showing much of any kind of expression. It would be a big change to let Nhadala run the Machine Faction and take a break from all of the stress and problems associated with it. However, since he hadn't even had time to see Rikku in the past three months, he was looking forward to a long, extended vacation. With that thought, he smiled a bit and looked over at Cid. "I was thinking about finally doing it. I think it's time."

Cid looked back and his face became lucid, for he knew exactly what that meant. "Is that so? What makes you think I'm going to let a punk kid like you anywhere near my daughter?" he replied with a wide grin.

"Huh, still gonna gripe and complain about it?" Gippal quipped.

Cid, amused by the guts of the young Al Bhed, laughed loud enough that echoes filled the cove of rock and arc. With another clap on Gippal's back, Cid looked him straight in the eye with a crooked smile, though he was completely resolute in his words. "Gippal, my boy, there isn't another Al Bhed in Spira that I would want for a son-in-law. Just understand that when you give me a grandson, you have to name him after his old grandpa Cid."

"What, and have him grown up and be like you? Spira barely survived Sin and Vegnagun, old man." Gippal replied. Cid burst out into a hearty laugh once more just as their privacy was interrupted.

Tau scurried along the ground, a small distance in front if its pursuer, and quickly scrambled up Gippal's leg to his shoulder. It was obviously hiding from Rikku as she ran up, out of breath and hunched forward as she leaned on her thighs with her hands. "Tau, you traitor! Gippal won't be able to save you this time!" She had been far too engrossed with chasing the small machina and now, upon seeing Gippal and Cid standing together in idle conversation, she perked up and looked between them. "Okay, what's going on over here? Why aren't you two yelling at each other or something?"

It was Cid who stepped forward and patted his hand on her head heavily, still grinning ear to ear at what was just about to happen to her. He didn't say anything, but just turned and started walking away from the temple. It caused Rikku to nearly keel over. Quickly, she looked to Gippal with a very confused face but found that his expression was also odd. "What's going on, Gippal?" she asked.

"I've given the Machine Faction to Nhadala. With Bikanel almost done, the temple being used as a school and all of our machines in place around Spira, I've done what I wanted to do," he replied. The news was a bit alarming to her at first, but soon she realized the importance of it and squealed, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him wildly. It was a moment of sheer joy for her because she had missed being with him very dearly in the past few months. When Cid had asked her if she wanted to go with him to Djose to see the last machina being finished, she jumped at the chance. Now she found out that she would be able to be with Gippal more. It was something out of a dream for her. Even Yuna and Paine had noticed how depressed she had seemed lately, a reason they both told her to go with him and see Gippal.

In truth, their lives were changing. Yuna was often at Besaid with Wakka, Lulu, their baby and Tidus. Even when they did go out together on the Celsius, Tidus often came and it changed their traveling experience. Rikku adored Tidus just as much as she always had, but seeing them together always made her miss Gippal that much more. Lately, Paine had also been taking regular trips to Bevelle and even to Mushroom Rock. Though Rikku would have adored these breaks and used them to see Gippal, he was often busy or even untouchable. It was times like those when Rikku felt the most alone.

However, now she was beside herself in happiness. Gippal was going to be able to come with her on the Celsius or visit Yuna on Besaid or even find old ties with Nooj and Baralai. The choices made her giddy.

"Rikku..."

The elated spree that had taken her fell away a moment when Gippal spoke her name. It was a serious tone, one that could break someone's heart. Rikku felt a strange feeling of foreboding as she heard it and slowly leaned back from him, looking into his face with all the worry of a young girl in love. Whatever he had to say, it was going to be world-changing for her.

"I have something to ask you," he said, his right hand tucked back behind him, a single object gripped tightly in his fingers, as if he held his entire heart within the grasp of his own hand.

Although Gippal felt that this was the end of one story, Spira was now filled with new stories of love, struggle and victory. He had been part of one of the great stories in Spira, just like the girl that stood before him with bewilderment in her beautiful eyes. The old stories were now alive on the tongues and hands of a new generation of people in Spira. These stories were rocks, walls and water; each whispering tales from beginning to end.

The small ring in Gippal's hand was the beginning of a new story. It was the beginning of Gippal's and Rikku's story.

A/N: This is the end of my story, which is to say it is the beginning of someone else's. I have no impressive moral to say, no underlying philosophy to preach in this story. I am enamored with the story of Rikku and Gippal, and so this is nothing more than a testament to affections that are sparse in reality. This is my ode to the things that should happen to us all, but never do.

Rikku and Gippal,

May your lives be never forgotten;

Or your love taken for granted.

LeGrande Grover


End file.
